🍔 Clock In, Stack Sats

Happy Friday, In A Nutshell this week:

• 🍔 Clock In, Stack Sats

• 📈 ARK Invest’s Big Ideas 2026

• 🇳🇱 Netherlands to Tax Unrealised Bitcoin Gains

• 📣 A 7-Minute Bitcoin Business Masterclass

• 🎮 ZBD Raises $40M for Bitcoin Gaming

• …and much more

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 🚀⏰ Today’s news should be a ~4.27-minute read (679 words).

🧠 Quote Of The Week

“There’s a way to do it better, find it.”

— Thomas Edison

🍔 Clock In, Stack Sats

Steak ’n Shake is giving its hourly employees a Bitcoin bonus, and it’s one of the more concrete real-world Bitcoin uses we’ve seen from a major US restaurant chain.

Starting March 1, staff will earn $0.21 in Bitcoin per hour worked. The BTC doesn’t hit their wallets straight away, though; it vests over two years, meaning employees can only collect it after sticking with the company.

It’s a modest amount, but it’s significant for two reasons. First, it’s another example of Bitcoin being integrated into everyday life. Second, it demonstrates how companies can utilise Bitcoin creatively to reward employees and foster loyalty in a way that fiat currency cannot match.

📈 ARK Invest’s Big Ideas 2026 (Bitcoin Still at the Heart)

ARK Invest has released its Big Ideas 2026 flagship research report, a long-term look at the technologies likely to reshape markets over the next decade, from AI and robotics to bitcoin and beyond.

The report projects the entire digital asset ecosystem could reach ~$28 trillion by 2030, with Bitcoin expected to account for roughly 70 % of that market and a ~$16 trillion market cap if adoption continues.

🇳🇱 Netherlands to Tax Unrealised Bitcoin Gains

The Netherlands is pushing ahead with a major overhaul of its Box 3 wealth tax, aiming to tax unrealised gains on assets (including Bitcoin) annually starting in 2028. That means you could owe tax on price increases even if you never sell.

This change is part of a broader plan to base Box 3 on actual returns rather than assumed returns when calculating tax on savings and investments. Parliament and officials appear aligned on the bill, and the government wants it in force by 1 January 2028, but it still needs to pass through the House of Representatives first.

📣 A 7-Minute Bitcoin Business Masterclass

We’ve just dropped a 7-minute video explaining how Bitcoin fits into business, and why more companies are paying attention.

It’s designed to be simple, practical, and shareable, especially for founders and leaders who want to understand why we’re seeing momentum with businesses stacking Bitcoin on their balance sheets.

If you’ve been talking about Bitcoin with business owners or executives at companies who ask, “but how does this actually work for business?” then this is the clip to send.

Watch on X

Watch on YouTube

🎮 ZBD Raises $40M for Bitcoin Gaming Payments

Bitcoin payments startup ZBD has just closed a $40 million Series C funding round led by Blockstream Capital Partners to accelerate its gaming payments stack.

The New Jersey-based company uses the Lightning Network to let game developers integrate real-time, Bitcoin-based transactions and rewards directly into gameplay. In 2025 it processed over 120 million reward transactions and expanded its SDK integrations across dozens of mobile titles.

ZBD plans to use the funding to build a compliance-ready, full payments layer for games across mobile, PC, and console, pushing Bitcoin deeper into everyday digital experiences.

🔥 What else have you missed?

1. Coinbase launched a quantum advisory board focused on future Bitcoin security.

2. City & Financial Group is hosting a meetup in London, and the topic will be about Bitcoin's role in business.

3. The conversation is building around AI and Bitcoin converging.

4. Brian Armstrong defended Bitcoin’s decentralisation against a central banker.

5. The New York Times ran a hit piece on Michael Saylor’s Bitcoin strategy.

6. 🚨A sophisticated scam is circulating in the Bitcoin space; stay alert.

🍾 Friday Fun!

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